Systems for coupling wave energy are commonly available for optical and microwave waveguides. Such systems couple energy of a wave of one type propagating in one waveguide into wave energy of the same type propagating in a second waveguide. The present work relates to such coupling between electrical and mechanical waves in electrical and mechanical waveguides. The closest similar work known to the Applicants is that of Baer and Kino ("A Travelling Wave Ultrasonic Transducer," in Proc. 1982 Ultrasonics Symposium, pp. 498-501, San Diego, Oct. 27-29, 1982) who considered coupling an electrical delay line to a piezoelectric stack to generate longitudinal waves in the stack, thus creating an ultrasonic transducer. Coupling into and from a mechanical waveguide was not performed. Hagood and von Flotow ("Damping Of Structural Vibrations With Piezoelectric Materials And Passive Electrical Networks," J. Sound And Vibration, Vol. 146, No. 2, pp. 243-268, 1991) considered tuned L-R-C coupling to vibrating structures.
Known components which are capable of converting mechanical energy to electrical energy include piezoelectric, electrostrictive, magnetostrictive and electromagnetic devices. Such components have been used, for example, for vibration damping, sensing, motors, and transducers. Such systems have not been used for coupling wave energy between electrical and mechanical waves.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a system for coupling energy between electrical and mechanical waves.